Many hospitals, nursing homes, and other patient care facilities provide assist handles and/or guard rails on a variety of patient-supporting platforms, such as patient beds, stretchers, examination tables, and the like. Assist handles are typically associated with beds to aid users, such as the elderly or infirm, in entering and exiting the bed, as well as maneuvering around the bed. Some assist handles also function as guardrails to prevent the bed occupant from inadvertently falling out of the bed.
Early designs used a rigid frame member, typically in the nature of aluminum or steel tubing, that was bolted or welded directly to the bed frame. While these devices serve the general purpose for which they are intended, such designs hinder access to the bed occupant making it difficult to assist or treat the occupant. In addition, some bed occupants react adversely to side rails because of their restrictive appearance. Permanent-fixture designs also cause considerable difficulty during the changing of sheets and blankets on the bed.
Subsequent improvements include side rails and assist bars that are removably mounted or clamped to the side of the bed frame. One particular design comprises a single-piece tubular side-rail with U-shaped brackets that allow the side-rail to be lifted off the bed frame to free up movement of the occupant to and from the bed. In alternative designs, clamps are substituted for the brackets to provide a sturdier interface. Unfortunately, for the elderly or infirm, neither of these designs is practical as the rail is often too heavy and too cumbersome to be easily attached to and removed from the bed frame.
Accordingly, retractable bedrail and assist bar devices were developed so that the device could be easily stowed in order to render the top surface of the bed more easily accessible. Various constructions provide movable rails and handles that rotate around a single axis between a raised position, in which the rail/handle extends vertically above the surface of the bed mattress, and a lowered position, in which the rail/handle is stowed at a distal end of the bed or lowered to a position below the mattress.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.